Earlier this year, the consumer watchdog fined three retailers, Michael Hill, MyHouse and Hairhouse Online, almost A$20,000 each for advertising “site-wide discounts” that allegedly never applied to all items on the website.
At first glance, this might look like a straightforward case of using allegedly misleading advertising for an economic benefit. Yet the implications go further.
Years of exposure to constant promotions have trained shoppers to chase a bargain, promoting “clickbaiting”: tactics designed to lure consumers into browsing.
